Doctors at migraine clinics agree that no single migraine treatment works for everyone. So too,
with migraine diet treatments. Headache doctors agree: migraine diet treatments work for
many— but not for all. At our New Jersey (NJ) Migraine Clinic, we have found that migraine diets often brings help when other methods have not.

Most migraine doctors and Headache Clinics recommend avoiding migraine diet triggers which are rich in the amino acid Tyramine. For many headache clinics this is a standard migraine
treatment. Other headache doctors and migraine clinics are less concerned. Foods high in
Tyramine include: aged or blue cheese, yogurt, smoked, cured or pickled meat or fish, red wine
or beer, soy sauce, miso, and tempeh.

Caffeine: A Migraine Treatment, a Migraine Diet Trigger or Both?

Migraine and Caffeine: All Migraine Clinics have mixed feelings about caffeine.
Caffeine is a useful acute headache treatment when used occasionally along with aspirin or
Tylenol. BUT, drinking caffeine regularly can cause a kind of addiction to caffeine, so that not
getting quite enough coffee, can be a major migraine trigger.
Headache Clinic doctors recommend tapering off caffeine for a trial of 3 or 4 weeks. This is especially important for people who drink 3 or more cups of coffee or tea a day or who often take migraine treatment medicines, such as Excedrin, which contain caffeine. Persons who drink less coffee are not at high risk, but our migraine clinic has observed caffeine withdrawal headaches among persons who drink as little as one cup of coffee daily.

Suspect caffeine might contribute to your headaches if skipping caffeine for one or two days causes fatigue, muscle aches, migraine or other headache. If caffeine withdrawal headaches are
severe, the best migraine treatment is to taper off caffeine under medical supervision. A brief
course of anti-headache treatment with a preventive medicine such as amitryptiline can block
“withdrawal” headaches.

Other Treatments: Migraine and Nutrition

Migraine and Gluten: Headache doctors and Migraine Clinics find that a small but significant proportion of migraineurs are sensitive to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, oat, barley and rye. Ask your doctor to do a gluten blood antibody test. If gluten
antibodies are high, consider eliminating all gluten for a three month period since it takes that
long to judge a gluten-migraine treatment. Eliminating gluten is not an effective migraine
treatment for all, even if gluten antibodies are high. However, for many who are gluten sensitive, gluten
headache treatment results can be dramatic.

Migraine and Food “Allergies” or Sensitivities: Some, but not all headache doctors and migraine clinics believe that allergy-like sensitivities to milk, wheat, egg, yeast, soy, food additives
can be migraine triggers. A full scale elimination diet for these might best be done under
medical supervision.

Migraine and Hypoglycemia: Headache doctors argue about whether hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is “real”. But, at our headache clinic we are convinced that treating the hypoglycemia migraine connection is often an effective migraine treatment.
If you often become achy or tired or develop other symptoms if your next meal is late, consider
low blood sugar to be likely. Change your diet to small, frequent meals with fewer simple sugars
and carbohydrates at each meal. Please note: measuring the level of blood sugar and/or a
glucose tolerance test is usually NOT an accurate way to diagnose migraine-low blood sugar problems. Contact our NJ headache clinic for more information on migraine diets.